The Carolinas. Texas. Memphis. Kansas City. Vermont?
If we’re talking giants of American barbecue, that last one is a stretch. But there’s long been a culture of wood-fired cooking in the Green Mountains, and the low-and-slow scene is heating up. New businesses — brick and mortar, pop-up, farmers market, and mobile — are smoking meat all around the state, pulling elements from those established traditions while adding their own Vermont secret sauce. (For news on one additional, just-opened spot in Barre, see story here.)
We recruited Seven Days’ barbecue enthusiasts to check out seven of the newest spots, all of which have recently opened or found a new location. Most are in Chittenden County, but we also found a mobile smoker at the Bristol Farmers Market and a taqueria-adjacent restaurant in Hardwick. We tasted their brisket, burnt ends, pulled pork — even eggplant! — and got the owners to spill the baked beans on why they do what they ’cue.
Subaru Barbecue
Leo’s BBQ appears at farmers markets in Bristol, Jericho and Richmond, plus pop-ups around Burlington; follow on Instagram for schedule.
If Vermont barbecue had a calling card, it might be “Made in a smoker pulled behind a Subaru Outback.”
That’s how Leo Lehrer-Small brings Leo’s BBQ to farmers markets in Bristol, Richmond and his Jericho hometown. Not Vermonty enough yet? All the meat he cooks on his custom tank-offset setup from Hyde Park’s Golden Goose Smokers is sourced from Vermont farms and butchered by Lehrer-Small himself.
When Lehrer-Small, 27, started last summer, he arrived at the Bristol Farmers Market six hours early to set up a 30-cinder-block pit. This spring, he got the smoker and decided to run the biz full time.
“Food is really important in my family, and I’ve always loved cooking with fire,” Lehrer-Small said. In high school, he dug a hole in the backyard to try to cook a brisket in the ground.
He’s since gained experience working in high-end kitchens — including Philadelphia’s Michelin-recommended Zahav — and training as a butcher at Charlotte’s Philo Ridge Farm.
Lehrer-Small serves cheffed-up barbecue plates with staples such as beef brisket, brisket pastrami and barbecue chicken alongside beef cheek, lamb shoulder, Thai basil sausage and coal-roasted eggplant. Rotating sides include homemade dill pickles, chipotle black beans with pork and brisket trimmings, and homemade corn bread.
I’ve always loved cooking with fire.
Leo Lehrer-Small
I tried Leo’s BBQ at a Monday market in Bristol, with fiddles playing nearby. When I ordered a brisket plate ($22), Lehrer-Small carefully unwrapped a black pepper-rubbed slab. A pink ring glowed around the edge; each glistening slice draped itself like ribbon into the takeout box. I had him add a generous pour of vinegary sweet sauce, fortified with bone broth made to use all parts of the animal.
Lehrer-Small also slathered some of that rich sauce on my eggplant plate ($18), though he makes a vegetarian sauce, too. Compared with the 10-hour smoked brisket, the eggplant is a quick cook: Slices sit on a grate over live coals in the smoker’s firebox. Once it’s charred, he chops it and adds tahini and lemon for a baba ghanoush-style combo. The result is as meaty as a vegetarian dish can be.
In the long term, Lehrer-Small hopes to park the Subaru and open a permanent spot. For now, find him on the road.
The Slow Burn
520 BBQ & Grill, 90 Center Rd., Essex, 802-662-5144
Barbecue presents as simple food: meat on a plate. My husband’s response to our meal at 520 BBQ & Grill was equally simple: “Everything I ate was terrific,” he said, gnawing the last bit of tender, fatty meat from a smoked pork rib. He’d even declined to add barbecue sauce.
Matt Desautels, 47, launched 520 BBQ in March in the Essex Center Shopping Center, a convenient stop-off for suburban commuters. A Vermont native, he learned the art of barbecue while serving in the U.S. Army (the restaurant draws its name from his former Army unit), then took a barbecue course in Georgia.
He offers his customers the full range of smoked meat: brisket, pulled pork, ribs, smoked wings, sausage and — Desautels’ favorite, as well as mine — Kansas City-style burnt ends ($13).
Those burnt ends come from a brisket smoked overnight, fueled by white oak logs that impart a “softer” flavor — easier on the northern palate than the more powerful smokiness of mesquite or hickory, Desautels said. The lean brisket is served in slices, but Desautels cubes the fatty ends of the cut, rubs them with salt and pepper, rolls them in barbecue sauce, and gives them a return trip to the smoker. Fat carries flavor, so it’s no surprise that, for my money, burnt ends have it over brisket. My helping was luscious: both crisp and tender, just slightly sweet and in no need of additional sauce.
About three-quarters of Desautels’ customers opt for takeout; a handful of tables accommodate those who want to eat in. Brisket ($18 for an eight-ounce portion) and ribs ($15 for a half rack) are customer favorites. We ordered the Family Special ($30) with four meats and added burnt ends and ribs for an extra $20. Since all the meat is smoked and ready, our hearty order arrived in five minutes flat. After our eat-in meal, we took home enough leftovers to feed us the following night.
Brisket by the Bay
Barbacoa Smoke, 127 E. Lakeshore Dr., Colchester, 802-343-2312, Barbacoa Smoke on Facebook
Louie Laberge grew up as a farm boy in Charlotte. After working his first job at Al’s French Frys in South Burlington when he was 19 years old, he started a career in construction that lasted decades. Then a friend gave him a meat smoker, and Laberge never looked back. He’d always liked cooking, and soon he was doing just that for his friends, as well as his fellow campers at Colchester’s Malletts Bay Campground, where he spends his summers.
“They all started telling me I needed to start a food truck, because there just wasn’t anything like this in town,” Laberge, 57, said.
In May, he made that idea into reality, opening the Barbacoa Smoke food truck on East Lakeshore Drive, tucked neatly behind the Pickled Perch restaurant. Laberge serves burgers, hot dogs and chicken fingers alongside his barbecue specialties: succulent Texas-style brisket ($18), pulled pork ($13) and ribs ($20 for a half rack; $35 for a full).
The kind of brisket I like to make, I spend 12 to 14 hours cooking.
Louie Laberge
Preparing the meat the way he likes it requires Laberge to be an early riser. He starts the brisket a little before 4 a.m. each morning, trimming and seasoning it before throwing it in the smoker. The pork butts go on next, followed by the ribs, which take an average of six hours to cook to perfection. The result is mouthwatering, tender meat with a smoky, slightly sweet taste that has as much flavor as Laberge has patience.
“With this smoker, I can push through the brisket in seven hours or so, if need be,” he said. “But the kind of brisket I like to make, I spend 12 to 14 hours cooking. The best brisket is a really slow-cooked one.”
The Town of Colchester only allows food trucks to operate until October 1, so Laberge’s season doesn’t last as long as he’d like. Those in the know fill up while they can. On a recent afternoon, the line for barbecue included teenagers, construction workers from a nearby site and tourists staying near the bay. They’re drawn by the smell of slow-cooking meat and an ideal location for eating it, facing Bayside Beach.
“I’ve got the view, the marina,” Laberge pointed out. “Hard to beat!”
Outta the Park
Brisket and Beans BBQ, open Mondays only, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., in Park Place Tavern, 38 Park St., Essex Junction, 802-904-3418, Brisket and Beans BBQ on Facebook
I make no bones about it: After six years of living in Austin, Texas, I’m an unrepentant barbecue snob. So when I heard that Casey DeGuise, owner of Brisket and Beans BBQ in Essex Junction, specializes in Texas barbecue, I was eager to give it a try — and was not disappointed.
DeGuise, 37, makes his own hand rub and cooks his meat low and slow over a wood fire for 21 hours. He also makes sauces, including a ruby one with pomegranate molasses and lemon and an “umami tsunami” sauce, which tastes like steak sauce and barbecue had a love child.
But for me, the true measure of good barbecue is whether it’s flavorful enough to eat sans sauce. By that standard, DeGuise’s meat delivered. The brisket ($8 per quarter pound; platters with meat and two sides start at $10) was perfectly tender, and the rib meat ($8 per quarter pound) slipped off the bone like a negligee.
DeGuise makes his baked beans with smoked jalapeño-infused maple syrup, giving them a light, not overpowering sweetness. The coleslaw, an afterthought in some barbecue joints, is Japanese-style and hand-shredded, made with sugar and apple cider vinegar. Simple, crunchy and tasty.
For me, it was a toss-up whether the ribs bested the namesake brisket, and I regretted not ordering the burnt ends. Thankfully, that left room for dessert, baked by DeGuise’s girlfriend, Addy LeFebvre, who serves up a maple-brown-sugar corn bread and a decadent flourless chocolate cake.
It took DeGuise years to find his carnivorous calling. The lifelong Vermonter started using drugs at 14, and when the feds arrested him for conspiracy to distribute cocaine, it “saved my life,” he said.
Out of jail and struggling to find work in 2019, DeGuise applied for a job at what was then Mark BBQ in Essex Junction. Chef-owner Darrell Langworthy knew of DeGuise’s past but gave him a chance. Two years later, DeGuise was general manager. When Langworthy closed the business in 2024, DeGuise decided to carry on the tradition. He’s now smoking the right stuff, and we’re all the better for it.
Party Platter
Hardwick BBQ, 154 Route 15, Hardwick
I rolled up to Hardwick BBQ with four family members and two pups in tow, unsure what to expect. Located beside Caja Taqueria and owned by the same folks — chef Bryan Palilonis, 48, and his partner, Gabs Benham, 35, with startup help from a longtime friend, chef Jeff Weiss, 60 — the business has such a minimal web presence that it’s hard to tell if it actually exists. In some places, the ’cue operation is referred to as Caja Pub rather than Hardwick BBQ, and although it opened in May, the website still says the location is “coming soon.” Would I find the brisket and ribs I was craving, or would delicious tacos be my consolation prize?
Happily, the smoker was puffing away. Although musician Dave Keller sang the blues inside the dining room, my canine-laden crew had to stick with one of the picnic tables in the parking lot.
The loaded sampler ($40), which comes with three meats, three ribs and two sides, is just right for a ravenous trio or a more temperate foursome. To stretch it for our quintet, we added sides and a few appetizers, including candied pork belly ($15) and golden nuggets of sweet corn ($8) mixed with batter and deep fried, then drizzled with creamy remoulade. Both were adorned with simple, crisp salads and pickled red onions.
The tender beef ribs and smoky brisket were my favorites of the meats, and I enjoyed the tomato and cumin flavor of the baked beans — a change from the maple-rich New England style. The platter came with pickles (cucumber slices, green beans, more onions!) and a petite loaf of corn bread with softened, spiced honey butter for slathering.
One of the best things about the location is that it’s a two-for-one deal: If a party member isn’t into barbecue, they can peel off to the taqueria for a cup of pozole or a veggie burrito stuffed with plantains, beans and pico de gallo. For a place that’s “coming soon,” Hardwick BBQ is remarkably filling.
Hog Wild
Hangry Hogg, University Mall parking lot, South Burlington, and other local events; text “join” to 802-505-9455 or follow on Facebook for weekly schedule updates
Jason Evans grew up in central New York — not exactly barbecue country. But when he landed in culinary school in Charleston, S.C., he immediately fell for the tender, smoke-kissed meats.
Barbecue “kinda grasped me in my soul,” the chef said, but it remained a hobby through his several decades in fine dining. About five years ago, Evans, now 55, finally decided to launch the Hangry Hogg food truck in his then-hometown of Rutland.
Late last year, Evans and his wife moved north for her job, and Hangry Hogg started serving lunch regularly in South Burlington’s University Mall parking lot. After a couple months of deep-winter closure, it reopened in March.
Hangry Hogg’s menu blends barbecue staples with chef’s touches. Evans always has chopped brisket ($16) and pulled-pork sandwiches ($14), plus a “flight” of sliders, one of each meat ($12). Regular Nick Bushey of South Burlington said paying $2 for an extra serving of the “melt-in-your-mouth” brisket is “the way to go.”
[Barbecue] kinda grasped me in my soul.
JASON EVANS
Evans rubs the meat with celery salt and a nose-tickling dose of black pepper. He uses pecan-wood chips for a lighter flavor that he believes pleases more northern palates. His not-too-sweet, tangy sauce combines fresh pineapple, oranges, onions, molasses, ketchup and canned chipotle.
Hangry Hogg’s sides are just as thoughtful: The creamy slaw ($4) features buttermilk and Duke’s mayonnaise generously seasoned with celery seed and pepper. Evans smokes his pinto beans ($4) before tossing them with barbecue sauce and an abundance of meat trimmings.
On a recent visit, I tried all three weekly specials: a pair of chewy, flavorful Fred Flintstone-size beef ribs ($19); a half-rack of fatty, fall-off-the-bone pork ribs ($16); and a pound of crisp-skinned, deep-fried smoked wings ($16), which can be dressed with house sauces such as barbecue and Buffalo. At the chef’s recommendation, I went with the nontraditional salt and vinegar, which complemented the wings’ smokiness.
In summer and fall, Hangry Hogg serves lunch at the mall Wednesdays and Thursdays, plus Fridays and Saturdays if Evans has no events booked. To avoid hangry disappointment, check Facebook for his weekly schedule.
Perfect 10
Tin Bucks Barbecue appears at farmers markets, pop-ups and special events around the state; find the schedule online.
Maybe it’s his military background or his decade-plus in the food-service trenches, but Todd Cassell comes off as a no-nonsense kind of guy. At least at first.
Slinging meats last Thursday from his mobile smoker rig at the Pinery in Burlington, the Tin Bucks Barbecue founder managed his steady flow of hungry customers with a mix of cheffy precision and cheeky bravado, the latter somewhere between that of a soldier on shore leave and a standup comic practicing crowd work. Asked what sauce he recommends for his slow-smoked wings, Cassell quipped without breaking stride, as he sliced and plated an order of brisket, “I recommend you make up your mind.”
He waited a beat to allow a customer to marinate in sudden anxiety before softening and saying with a grin, “Kidding. Go with the Buffalo.”
Since launching Tin Bucks earlier this year, Cassell has made a local name for himself with smartly conceived, well-executed ’cue, saucily served — whether you opt for barbecue sauce or not. Based in Northfield, the gregarious former Marine and New England Culinary Institute alum rolls up to farmers markets, car shows and brewery parking lots across central and northern Vermont, five to seven days a week, and introduces customers to his brand of “Vermont-style barbecue,” $10 at a time. (Most menu items are 10 bucks, as the name hints, though he went with “tin” to give himself an out in case costs increase.)
Despite his culinary training, Cassell is a self-taught pitmaster. He borrows from many different regional styles and techniques to produce his competition-quality ribs, brisket, chicken and pulled pork. His Green Mountain take on barbecue is subtle, starting with smoking on apple and maple wood and judiciously incorporating those and other classic Vermont flavors into his recipes. Rather than the traditional ketchup or vinegar, for example, one of his sauces has an apple base.
There might not be a better deal around than Tin Bucks’ $10 menu — $15 for specials. For less than what you might spend on a single platter at fancier joints, a friend and I gorged on brisket, pork belly burnt ends, wings and an array of sides ($3 each or $10 for four). The only challenge? Making up my mind about what to try next.
Dan Bolles
The original print version of this article was headlined “Right on ’Cue | Tasting seven smoking-hot barbecue spots around Vermont”
This article appears in August 26 • 2026.
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